Crossword Genius

Clear-headed, so bear releases American (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sober

'clear-headed' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'so bear releases american' is the wordplay.
'releases' suggests deleting specific letters.
'american' becomes 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names).
'bear' with 'a' removed is 'ber'.
'so'+'ber'='SOBER'

(Other definitions for sober that I've seen before include "Serious, thoughtful" , "Serious, restrained" , "Abstemious in robes" , "not moved" , "Restrained, grave" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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